': : - -:: - :'l', , .- ' --- G \,, "-" : -Y .: !,: '- . : r '-,:; .. ! , 't ' II - ,:,: 'l'<, i r 'I ':'4 ;cf I r I. '- f t:t r"il' t :. ! f \ ';' 'I i ! ì.L i} \ ;1' cl _ ", ,1! , : _ :.t), , / ': i ' .} of;: __, - , :a \ Aã ' ,"' ,-' J ' . ./ ""' : r.: e ' Ìf ' l j'." , ftJll""' -- .\-t;J; . - 'c: ,: , 'p. ; j , : (J "< .... ;f1 , À_ , . ,,'" -' !..ß L: 't -; '-' t. ::i ' - 'C1f ',.,. ,'k, __" ,,þ.. . '#-èi - r'ó .- \,1\ f .. - . -" ' (), . C < 'It. . -, - Q ..... .....> l'.;. ì ./. . C"\ f'\. "..., c'= - - .'- i - '" - ..,. v '--' "'" - c . i' -!:} oltE:i l " %R-. tJ - - : > % -: -j \ . :, . A j!{ -:(g \ t )' ' ";'ð '/' / '; .. , -v . ,/yJt.: . , '"' c.:_._, ,f? . " .!J l The dj. and producer King Britt, at the Whitney. THE THEATRE OPENINGS AND PREVIEWS Please call the phone number listed with the theatre for timetables and ticket information. BURLEIGH GRIME$ Wendie Malick and Mark Moses star in a new comedy by Roger Kirby, about a Wall Street up- and-comer. With music by David Yazbek. David Warren directs. Previews begin May 23. (New World Stages, 340 W. 50th St. 212-239-6200.) COLUMBINUS This drama, conceived and di- rected by P. J. Pa parelli, examines the psychology of American high- school students. In previews. Opens May 22. (New York The- atre Workshop, 79 E. 4th St. 212- 239-6200.) HERAKLES VIA PHAEDRA Ellen Stewart's adaptation inter- twines the two myths and sets them in the Roaring Twenties. Pre- views begin May 18. Opens May 21. (LaMama Annex, 74A E. 4th St. 212-475-7710.) LEE EVANS The British comedian comes to 37 Arts with a new standup act. Pre- views begin May 19. (450 W. 37th St. 212-560-8912.) NOT A GENUINE BLACK MAN Brian Copeland's new play tells of his experiences in an African- American family living in an al- most exclusively white suburb. Bob Balaban directs. Opens May 17. (DR2, 103 E. 15th St. 212- 239-6200.) THE RACE Gecko presents a highly physical theatre piece about a man pre- paring to meet his first child. Part of the "Brits Off Broadway" se- ries. In previews. Opens May 18. (59E59, at 59 E. 59th St. 212- 279-4200.) SOME GIRL(S) Maura Tierney, Eric McCormack, and Fran Drescher star in a new play by Neil LaB ute, about a man who visits four former girlfriends before getting engaged. Directed by Jo Bonney. In previews. (Lu- cille Lortel, 121 Christopher St. 212-279-4200.) SPRING AWAKENING Atlantic Theatre Company pre- sents the world première of a new musical adapted from Frank We- dekind's novel about the secret lives of teen-agers. With music by Duncan Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Michael Mayer directs. Previews begin May 18. (336 W. 20th St. 212-239-6200.) TROUT STANLEY The American première of a drama by Claudia Dey, about twin girls living in the Canadian wild. J en Wineman directs. Previews begin May 19. Opens May 22. (Culture Project, 45 Bleecker St. 212-868-4444.) WAITING FOR GODOT Classical Theatre of Harlem presents Samuel Beck- ett,s masterpiece. Christopher McElroen directs. Previews begin May 18. Opens May 19. (HSA Theatre, 645 St. Nicholas Ave., near 141st St. 212-868-4444.) THE WATER.S EDGE Kate Burton, Tony Goldwyn, Mamie Gummer, Austin Lysy, and Katharine Powell star in a new play by Theresa Rebeck, in which a woman and her children are paid an unwelcome visit by her ex-husband. Directed by Will Frears. Previews begin May 23. (Second Stage, 307 W. 43rd St. 212- 246-4422.) j _ ', î ; ll " ': .q;'- oCi_ -. 8 THE NEW YORKER, MAY 22, 2006 NOW PLAYING ALL DOLLED UP Colin Quinn and Working Stiff Productions pre- sent a new comedy by Bobby Spillane, based on the true story of a cross-dressing gangster. Susan Campanaro directs. (Acorn, 410 W. 42nd St. 212- 279-4200.) ANNULLA Emily Mann's play tells the story of a Polish Jew who passed as an Aryan under the Nazi regime. (The- atre at St. Luke's, 308 W. 46th St. 212-239-6200.) fr.;' 1,..,4... ð. 4 . ". -= .,,:.'- t ':.' J ' .,. I Þ__ _'" 1#" i4# . . ./ - ,- :" . , c- . f- . I.: i '. - BILLY CONNOLLY LIVE! The Scottish comedian presents a standup show at 37 Arts. (450 37th St. 212-307-4100.) BRUNDIBAR The Tony Award-winning playwright Tony Kush- ner has done a lively job of translating Adolf Hoff- meister's 1938 libretto to this children's opera by the late Czech composer Hans Krása. The title character (brilliantly played by Euan Morton) is a small-town organ grinder whose main audience is children. But no amount of financial gain or au- dience attention can offset the fact that Brundibar dislikes his primary spectatorship. When Aninku (the charming, wise-beyond-her-years Devynn Pedell) and her brother, Pepicek (the strong Aaron Simon Gross), wander into the town where Brundi- bar holds sway, mayhem ensues, but we never lose sight of Hoffmeister and Krása's intention: to show the power of the community, and the grit to be found in hope. Maurice Sendak's beautiful sets add to the reality and the fairy-tale nature of it all. (New Victory, 209 W. 42nd St. 212-239-6200. Through May 21.) CAGE LOVE Christopher Denham wrote this drama, about a woman who charges her former lover with rape. Adam Rapp (the writer of "Red Light Winter") di- rects. (Rattlestick, 224 Waverly PI. 212-868-4444.) THE CAINE MUTINY COURT-MARTIAL It's a peculiar moment to revisit Herman Wouk's 1953 courtroom drama, based on his Pulitzer Prize- winning novel. The story is centered around a noble dissenter-a Second World War naval lieutenant (Joe Sikora) on trial for us rping his inept superior of- ficer, Captain Queeg (Zeljko Ivanek), during a ty- phoon-but its conclusion, which argues against the questioning of military authority, can't help but res- onate awkwardly in the age of Don- ald Rumsfeld. Most likely, the inten- tion behind Jerry Zaks's revival was not to reinvent the playas a conser- vative guilt trip but to give David Schwimmer, who plays the defense attorney, a chance to show off his dramatic chops. As it turns out, he's upstaged by a crew of expert char- acter actors, most notably Ivanek as the brittle Queeg. (Schoenfeld, 236 W. 45th St. 212-239-6200.) THE DROWSY CHAPERONE ;1 This show, deftly directed and cho- reographed by Casey Nicholaw, hap- pens to be the most original musical of the season. The minute the know- ing, sad-sack narrator (Bob Martin, who also co-wrote the book with Don McKellar) puts on a record of Gable and Stein's "The Drowsy Chap- erone"-"Remember?" he says of this entirely fictional 1928 musical comedy-his world is renovated. The J musical takes place in his head, and the garish, glamorous stock charac- ters-low comedians, ingénues, Latin lovers-make their entrance: the her- oine of the musical within the mu- sical, Janet Van De Graaff (the win- ning Sutton Foster), is quitting show business to marry the debonair hero, playfully named Robert Martin (Troy Britton Johnson). "The Drowsy Chap- erone" cleverly deconstructs not just the folderol of twenties extravagan- zas but also the frivolity of high camp. (Reviewed in our issue of 5/15/06.) (Marquis, Broadway at 45th St. 212- 307-4100.) FAITH HEALER The subject of the four eloquent monologues on the paradox of talent that make up Brian Friel's "Faith Healer" (imported from Dublin to the Booth, under the elegant direc- tion of Jonathan Kent) is the Irish faith healer Frank Hardy (Ralph Fiennes). Through their evasions, omissions, and confessions, Frank's speeches chart the trajectory of his self-destruction. Frank's wife, Grace (Cherry Jones), and his manager, Teddy (the superb Ian McDiannid), are the other witnesses to the healings he calls his "performances"-and to the price they all pay for his occasional miracles. In Friel's brilliant story- telling, the refracted memories of the characters paint a harrowing picture of recrimination and self-aggrandizement, and Fiennes is outstanding, a compelling bundle of prowess and panic. (5/15/06) (222 W. 45th St. 212-239-6200.) FAUST David Herskovits directs Target Margin Theatre's production of parts one and two of Goethe's mas- terpiece. (Classic Stage Company, 136 E. 13th St. 212-279-4200. Through May 20.) J.A.P. CHRONICLES. THE MUSICAL Isabel Rose wrote, composed, and stars in a one- $ woman musical version of her novel, which follows a group of Am Ex-wielding, engagement-ring- waving, Louis Vuitton-slinging JAPs-that's "Jewish 0 American Powerhouses," thank you very much- who meet up at a summer-camp reunion. Rose, fre- 8 netic and likable no matter which character she in- ] .; , ,'1 1 -....... - . """" .. :. -... . " '\: -'" I' - : !: